PSU Wins DOT Student Ad Competition
From a hand-selected group of six universities across the
country, PSU's fall term Advertising Campaigns cl
ass emerged the clear
winner in an ad competition aimed at reducing traffic deaths and injuries among
"tweens". The target audience for the campaign is parents who, for a
variety of reasons, are ill-informed and otherwise not prepared to deal
with the challenges of keeping tweens properly secure in the vehicle.
The faculty advisor for the PSU team is Prof. Dickinson, director of
advertising management in the PSU School of business. University of New
Mexico, San Diego State, University of Massachusetts, University of
Illinois Chicago, and Texas A&M were the other schools chosen by the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) under the
Department of Transportation (DOT).
The PSU creative strategy centered on a key consumer insight, that
a properly used safety belt is a metaphor for a parental hug. As special
form of hug (see inset) became the physical symbol of both riding safety
and parental love.
The campaign battle cry; "Did you hug your tween
today?" is the call to action that constantly reminds parents to make sure
their tween is properly buckled up, regardless of who is at the wheel.
Testing and validation of the creative concepts was part of the judging
criteria. PSU had special assistance in this regard. A Portland company
named Dialsmith has developed a research technology that has become very
popular with cable news organizations and large ad agencies. The
technology, catted perception analyzer allows large groups of people using
hand-held dials to give instant feedback on things such as
political speeches and television commercials.
Dialsmith made this sophisticated technology available to Dickinson's
class. This is the first time the perception analyzer technology has been
used at the collegiate ad competition level. Not only were the NHTSA
personnel impressed with the caliber of the PSU creative work, they were
delighted to see that parents of tweens also rated the work memorable and effective.
Two students present creative work to a focus
group of 25 parents using perceptional analyzer dials.
PSU students Lacy Tramp, Jesse Pierson and Alexi Parry were
selected by fellow class
members to fly to Washington, DC for the
presentation of the campaign to NHTSA
administrators. Prof D. (2nd from
left) accompanied the PSU as faculty advisor.
